PirateQ 
Troy Moon, Pensacola State College
Pensacola State College will reinstate a mandatory indoor mask policy on Monday Aug. 2 because of rising COVID infections and in accordance with recently released guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The policy applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated students, faculty, employees and visitors.
PSC President Ed Meadows made the announcement on Wednesday, July 28, soon after the CDC issued guidelines recommending that fully vaccinated people should wear a mask in public indoor settings if they are in areas of substantial or high transmission rates. The CDC was already recommending that those who are unvaccinated should wear a mask indoors. According to the CDC, Pensacola and all of Florida is an area identified as having high COVID transmission rates.
Last week, 14 people – 11 students and three employees – tested positive for COVID, the highest weekly total since the first week of February. According to the CDC, one in five new COVID-19 infections in the United States is in Florida, and 80% of those infected are unvaccinated.
Here is the text of President Meadows message:
“To All Faculty, Staff, and Students:
Because of the sharp rise in COVID infections, new guidelines were issued by the CDC yesterday. Effective Monday, we are returning to our prior policy of requiring universal indoor masking for everyone on campus, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated. This policy applies to all students, employees, contract workers, and visitors to campus and will be strictly enforced. New signage for our masking requirements will be distributed by the marketing department.
The new guidelines for fully vaccinated people can be found on the CDC website at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html.
Guidelines for unvaccinated people remain unchanged and require wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and frequently washing hands. The guidelines for unvaccinated people can be found on the CDC website at:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.
Again, I urge all of those who are still unvaccinated to get vaccinated in order to protect yourself and those around you from being infected or required to be quarantined. “
Ed Meadows
President
